International Relations Theory and Non-Traditional Approaches to Security Is International Relations the Outcome of an Academic Research Project Undertaken by Dr
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About WISCOMP WISCOMP Initiated in 1999, WISCOMP is a project of the FOUNDATION FOR UNIVERSAL RESPONSIBILITY, in New Delhi, India. It is a South Asian initiative that works at Perspectives the confluence of peacebuilding and security studies. Gender concerns provide the leitmotif of its programs. International Relations Theory and 27 Non-Traditional Approaches to Security International Relations Theory and Non-Traditional Approaches to Security is International Relations the outcome of an academic research project undertaken by Dr. Siddharth Mallavarapu. Awarded by WISCOMP for academic research, media projects and special projects, the Scholar of Peace Fellowships are designed to encourage Theory and innovative work by academics, policymakers, defence and foreign affairs practitioners, journalists, NGO workers, creative artists and others. The Non-Traditional Approaches fellowships are seen as an important step to encourage work at the interface of gender and security; conflict resolution and peace. These studies are expected to provide information about problems pertaining to security, promote to Security understanding of structural causes of conflict, suggest alternatives and encourage peace initiatives and interventions. Twenty Seventh in the Perspectives series, this monograph addresses one of the core concerns of contemporary International Relations theory namely, how to incorporate ‘non-traditional’ concerns of security into the mainstream discourse. It examines the receptivity of different intellectual traditions in the discipline to these concerns. The author begins his analysis with the Realist discourse in the Siddharth Mallavarapu post cold war period and provides an overview of “traditional” conceptualizations of security. He then moves on to provide a succinct summary of the Liberal and Constructivist discourses, examining the receptivity of each of these streams to security formulations that move beyond survival of the sovereign state towards addressing individual well being and global sustainability. This is an important work which provides thought provoking analyses of the extant approaches to security and engages the reader with an explication of contesting claims. It will be an invaluable resource book for those interested in exploring the evolving area of scholarship broadly labeled as ‘non traditional security’. Siddharth Mallavarapu is an International Relations theorist and currently teaches at the Centre for International Politics, Organization and Disarmament, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi. He holds a Doctorate in International Relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University. He has co-edited two books on recent Indian contributions to International Relations theory – International Relations in India: Bringing Theory Back Home (2005) and International Relations in India: Theorizing the Region and Nation (2005). He has co-authored Gender and Armed Conflict in Kashmir (forthcoming monograph). Women in Security, Conflict Management and Peace (WISCOMP) Foundation for Universal Responsibility of HH the Dalai Lama Core 4 A, Upper Ground Floor, India Habitat Centre Lodhi Road, New Delhi-110 003, India Foundation for Phone : 91-11-24648450 Fax : 91-11-24648451 Universal Email: [email protected] Responsibility Website: www.wiscomp.org m k International Relations Theory and Non-Traditional Approaches to Security Siddharth Mallavarapu International Relations Theory and Non-Traditional Approaches to Security Copyright© WISCOMP Foundation for Universal Responsibility Of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, New Delhi, India, 2008. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Published by WISCOMP Foundation for Universal Responsibility Of His Holiness The Dalai Lama Core 4A, UGF, India Habitat Centre Lodhi Road, New Delhi 110 003, India This initiative was made possible by a grant from the Ford Foundation. The views expressed are those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect those of WISCOMP or the Foundation for Universal Responsibility of HH The Dalai Lama, nor are they endorsed by them. 2 Contents Acknowledgements............................................................................. 4 Foreword ............................................................................................. 5 Introduction ......................................................................................... 7 Realism and Non-traditional Security .............................................. 14 The Liberal Project and Non-traditional Security............................ 28 The Copenhagen Innovation in Security Studies ............................. 44 Traditional and Non-traditional Security: An Ongoing Conversation ................................................................ 58 End Notes .......................................................................................... 73 3 Acknowledgements I would like to convey my gratitude to Professor Kanti Bajpai for sharing generously his insights on International Relations theory and for clarifying issues relating to the conceptualisation of traditional and non-traditional manifestations of security. My gratitude also extends to WISCOMP for making this particular study possible. Any errors or inaccuracies remain my individual responsibility. Siddharth Mallavarapu 4 Foreword The Scholar of Peace Fellowships awarded by WISCOMP for academic research, media projects and special projects are designed to encourage original and innovative work by academics, policy makers, defense, and foreign policy practitioners, NGO workers and others. The series WISCOMP Perspectives in conjunction with WISCOMP Discussion Papers brings the work of some of these scholars to a wider readership. This work addresses a keenly debated issue in contemporary International Relations theory and praxis – the need to rethink conventional ‘state centric’ formulations of security. This debate which began at the end of the Cold War reshaped the contours of discourse on security studies and interrogated some traditional presuppositions. In addition, processes of globalization yielded a growing recognition that human existence was not only threatened by inter-state conflicts but by intra-state civil strife, state perpetuated suffering and state malfeasance and nonfeasance on provision of basic human needs. This change reflected in the increasing focus on the ‘non traditional’ concerns of energy security, food security, health, environmental security, trafficking in drugs and small arms and financial crimes. The author examines the receptivity of Realist, Liberal, and Constructivist streams of thought to issues that move beyond the ‘sovereign’ state, towards concerns for individual well being and global sustainability. He puts the epistemology and theoretical boundaries of the intellectual traditions that have shaped international politics to rigorous scrutiny, to yield insights on the ‘space’ for inclusion of issues that fall under the broad rubric of ‘non-traditional security’ concerns. The author maps the contours of the Security discourse and identifies the areas where ‘non traditional’ concerns have already been assimilated and where newer concerns may find entry. He begins his analysis by recounting state-centric Realist formulations of security and argues that their exclusive focus on military power, state interests and territoriality makes Realist discourse a less likely candidate for incorporating human needs, social welfare, identity concerns or 5 epidemiology (especially that of AIDS) within its theoretical perspective. However, he is not dismissive of the traditional emphasis on state survival. He avers that the state is likely to play a key role in the provision of security, irrespective of the manner in which it engages. The arguments compel the reader to delve deeper into the underlying assumptions of the classical Realist discourse, even if to critique and unscramble them. The author also engages with, two important constituencies- South Asian and feminist theorists- that have challenged the ‘mainstream’ security discourse. While a rigid binary categorization of traditional and nontraditional security or hard and soft security has been a standard used by Western scholars, it has not found favor with feminists and South Asian theorists. The author envisions theories of International Relations along a continuum validating a confluence of multiple explanatory frameworks that can provide opportunity for constitution and then reconstitution of a shared meaning of the essentially ‘contested content of security’. He acknowledges that this constitution in order to have meaning can learn from a gender critique of security studies. Innovative research on security issues which respects diversity and which foregrounds perspectives of women and the hitherto marginalized in the traditional security matrix is an essential part of the process of attaining ‘human security’. To buttress the research and praxis efforts of WISCOMP, this work adds a cogent analysis of the contemporary extant literature on the security discourse in International Relations theory and is a step towards creating awareness on the debates surrounding the process. It presents the epistemology of various traditions in the discipline and their conceptualizations of ‘security’ in a succinct form for easy